1. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to a container for the confinement of live bait while the fishing, trolling, fishing from a stationary boat, or drift fishing from a boat.
2. Description of Prior Art
Containers for confining live bait for storage and for fishing have been around since man started fishing. With the advent of motors on boats a form of fishing called trolling was developed. Trolling consists of dragging a hook, line and bait behind a moving boat. It was necessary to have a means of keeping bait alive and accessible to the angler while trolling. There are several desirable conditions that must be met to achieve this goal. First, the container must allow enough fresh water circulation to keep the bait from dying from insufficient oxygen not only while trolling but also when the boat is stopped, while drift fishing and while wade fishing. Second, the container must have sufficient buoyancy to float while being towed to prevent being damaged or lost due to contact with the bottom or underwater obstacles. Third, it must be easy to put the bait into the container without losing it in the boat or into the water. Fourth, the angler needs to be able to see the bait to determine the amount and its condition without opening the container door. Fifth, the floating container must be designed to be towed through the water smoothly using a minimum of energy. This is not a problem when a boat is towing the container but it is a big problem when an angle is wade fishing. The more energy required to tow the container the more fatigued the angler. Sixth, it must be easy retrieve the bait from the container without the bait escaping.
Live shrimp and live mullet are adept at jumping out of a container through an open access top door while the angler is attempting to grasp a fresh bait. A trap door arrangement is used on most present containers. Retrieving the bait from the container is particularly difficult for a wader angler who must try to hold their rod and reel out of the water, control their other equipment, and avoid getting entangled in their fish stringer while pulling the floating container to them and then trying to get a fish bait without submerging the container while pushing open the trap door and holding it open without allowing the bait to escape.
There are a number of containers that are related to this application, most are designed, primarily, to be towed behind a boat while trolling. Specifically, live bait containers designed primarily for wade fishing, drift fishing, and still fishing, but also designed for trolling have been ignored. All of the present designs have disadvantages and all fail to meet all of the above criteria.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,657,496 to Spotswood (1949) discloses a box container with a rounded front designed to be towed behind a boat. There are several advantages to this design. The container will sink when the boat is stopped as it has no floatation device. The container has a trap door that will allow the live bait to escape when opened and does not have enough openings, for water circulation to sustain the life of the live bait for any prolonged length of time. It is not constructed from a transparent material and retrieving bait would be very difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,834,145 to Kisiel (1956) discloses a cylindrical container with conical ends. One end has three fins to support the container when it is out of the water. A small keel is mounted on the side opposite the screened door. There is a small screened area on the sides and screened door above the waterline on the top. The amount and placement of the screen limits the ability of the container to circulate fresh water as the water tends to flow by the screen rather than through the screen. The door is placed so that the bait can readily escape while the angler is attempting to retrieve fresh bait from the container. The container appears to be made of non transparent material which makes it impossible to see the bait when the container is in the water.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,009,281 to Unger (1958) discloses a cylindrical container having one conical end and one flat end. A longitudinal floatation chamber is positioned on each side of the body of the container. There are several disadvantages to this design that are well known to the angler as this is the model for most trolling type bait containers presently available to the public.
There are not enough openings to permit sufficient flow of fresh water into the container to keep the bait alive, hence there is a high rate of death to live bait using this design.
The inward opening trap door makes it very difficult to put live bait in the container or to retrieve fresh bait. The spring on the door requires the angler to hold it open with one hand this restricts the available opening when filling the container causing spills of bait into the boat or into the water. The door must be pushed open far enough to grasp the fresh bait allowing bait to jump out and escape. This problem is especially true of live shrimp and mullet. Wade anglers have an especially hard time as the container is floating and while trying to keep the door open to get to the bait, the container is generally pushed under water thus allowing the bait to swim out and escape.
Another problem with the Unger design is that by having the buoyant chambers on each side at the center of the container, the container rides too high in the water, limiting the available water available for the bait. This condition causes a lack of oxygen for the bait and they die prematurely.
The body of the container is not transparent. To determine the amount of bait in the container, one must lift the container out of the water, empty out the trapped water then hold open the trap door and peer through the door opening to determine the amount and condition of the bait.
The door has a bad habit of sticking partially open letting bait escape. There is no keel or other means of stabilizing the container causing it to run from side to side while being towed at trolling speed.
Our invention meets all of the above criteria for keeping bait alive and accessible and is far superior to the Unger patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,728,812 to Woolworth et al. (1973) discloses a trolling bucket that has all the disadvantages of the Unger design plus it has even fewer access holes for water circulation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,274 to Landell et al. (1977) disclosed a trolling bucket with a loading latch means. This bucket has all the disadvantages of the Woolworth patent with the added problem that it latches open automatically and if the angler forgets to unlatch the door, the bait escapes. This has happened.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,757 to Sakuta (1985) discloses a trolling bucket with an upward opening door that would allow the bait to escape while the angler attempts to catch fresh bait. There are too few openings in the bucket to allow necessary water circulation. The bucket material is not transparent thus making it impossible to see the condition of the bait. There is no keel or other stabilizing feature to keep the bucket from whipping from side to side while being towed by a boat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,788 to Hartman (1987) discloses a minnow bucket that has all of the disadvantages of the Unger patent but also has the fatal feature of lifting the live bait up closer to the door. This feature may work for minnows or some other baits but it would allow all of the baits, shrimp, mullet, and croakers (commonly used for salt water fishing) to escape.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,198 to Von Grossmann (1992) discloses a bait bucket having all of the disadvantages of the Unger patent and the further disadvantage of hinging the whole top section to gain access to the bait in the main container but also lifts the bait upward to the open top allowing the bait to escape.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,639 to Tentler (1995) discloses a rectangular trollable bait bucket and a bait keeper. The bait bucket has no floatation device and therefore it will not be readily accessible and fails to fill any of the required criteria.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,204 to Sykes (1996) discloses a floating minnow bucket with flat ends. This bucket is not suitable for trolling.
Accordingly, the objects and advantages of the live bait container for wade fishing and trolling of the present invention are to provide:
(a) an improved system to increase water circulation in the container when the container is not moving or is moving very slowly through the water during wade fishing or drift fishing;
(b) an improved buoyancy system that provides complete submergence of the bait compartment to give the bait the maximum available room to swim and more oxygen while keeping the access opening above water.
(c) a cover assembly for the access opening in the container that:
(1) allows the angler to reach through a series of elastic strips, to retrieve fresh bait, while maintaining a tight fit around the angler""s wrist and hand (preventing the bait from escaping);
(2) allows the cover portion of the assembly to be unhooked from one side of the opening, giving full access to the complete opening to facilitate putting bait into the container;
(3) allows for quick and easy removal of the cover for cleaning or replacement;
(d) a container in which the bait can be observed while the container is floating in the water.
Further objects and advantages are to provide a bait container that can be towed behind a boat without whipping from side to side in the water, is easy to use by a wade angler, is tough enough to withstand the beating it takes while being used or transported, is constructed from a transparent material so that the amount and condition of the bait may be observed, is easy to clean and store, is inexpensive to manufacture, and is affordable to all fishing persons. Further objects and advantages will become apparent in the following discourse.